Jo Thornton - My Blog - Breast Enhancing Advice, Product Updates and Chat

 

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Category: Jo Thornton News

  1. Price Increases

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    Why I'm Raising My Prices – And What That Means for You

    I wanted to take a moment to talk about something that's been on my mind for a while now—price increases. I’ve been running my shop for quite a few years, and during that time, I’ve done everything I can to keep prices fair and steady. In fact, for some of my products, I haven’t raised prices in over six years! That’s despite the fact that the cost of silicone, manufacturing, and just about everything else involved in running my shop has gone up considerably.

    For a long time, I was able to absorb these rising costs because I wanted to keep things affordable for you. I know how tough things have been with inflation affecting all of us. But as much as I hate to do it, I’ve reached a point where it’s just not sustainable for me to continue without making some adjustments to my prices. I’d rather be honest and upfront with you all about it.

    Why Some Prices Are Rising More Than Others
    You might notice that some of the prices will increase more than others. The reason for that is I’ve always tried to price my products according to their actual costs, rather than just applying a blanket price rise across everything. Some products naturally have higher production costs, while others are more affordable to make, and I’ve reflected that in my pricing. But after years of trying to hold steady, those products that have seen no changes for six years may now have larger price jumps, simply because the costs have gone up that much over time.

    It’s About Sustainability
    I’ve always said I’d rather keep my shop running than close it, even if it means adjusting prices to stay afloat. I want to be here for the people who need me and my products, and the best way to do that is to make sure I can keep the business sustainable. It’s a decision that doesn’t come easily, but it’s one I’ve had to make to ensure I can keep bringing you the products and services you love.

    I Understand Things Are Tough
    I completely understand that many of you are feeling the pinch as well, so I’m doing something to help. Over the next month or so, I’ll be going through my stock and putting together a selection of seconds that I can offer at discounted prices. These will be products with minor imperfections but are still perfectly good for use. I hope that by offering these, I can make things a bit easier for those of you who might be struggling right now.

    Thank you so much for your understanding and continued support. I really do appreciate each and every one of you, and I’m committed to making sure my shop remains a place where you feel valued.

    Warmly,
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  4. Little Stocks Update

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    Just a quick little stock update for you:

    I've had some terrible issues with sourcing my raw materials for my products, so you may have noticed that some of my breast forms in particular have sold out.  I have to allow that to happen, starting production after that due to these logistics, and I am so sorry about that. It means I will do bigger production runs when I do. 

    The good news is that all the breast forms are currently in production, as well as breast enhancer styles 9 and 12. I am hoping for the following:

    • Styles 9 and 12 to finish first and be back in stock in around 3 weeks.
    • All breast forms to be finished and restocked by the end of April absolute latest, but hopefully closer to mid-April.

    All my other breast enhancers are just going into production now :) 

  5. Black Friday

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    Black Friday. Instagram post.

     

    It rolls around fast, but here we are again with another Black Friday/Black Friday week/Black Friday Month.

    You can probably see that I'm not running offers for it here on my site, or anywhere else that you might find me.

    The simple reason being that for an independent shop, it's become a beast that we can't contain. Buyers expect massive savings beyond the scope of what a small business can afford. It does depend on the business of course, so I can only really speak for my little store, but many of us keep our prices as low as we can and run on small profit margins all year round.  We operate our shops from a place of love and care for our customers, offering value and quality of service and product. Our costs are high, being such little enterprises who don't have the buying power of large stores, and we absorb those in order to offer a great value product.  

    So, when it comes to massive savings, it's just something I can't do.  If I could do it, it would mean I would be charging you too much in the first place.  

    I think that's a better way to run my store for you, and I hope you agree. 

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  6. Latest Royal Mail Strike Information

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    Here is the latest update from Royal Mail regarding ongoing industrial action affecting my posting and deliveries of your products:

     

    Information about deliveries

    Strike action in delivery offices will take place on Friday 4 November and Thursday 9 November. Customers will not receive a delivery on those days.

    Customer Service Points will be closed on those days and Redelivery and Parcel Collect services won't be operating.

  7. Update

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    My last blog post saved as an empty page (thank you Georgina for letting me know), so hopefully this one will pop up ok for you.

    First, a little breast enhancer update -

    Back in stock

     

    I can now expand on that information, and let you know that style 12 should be here this week, and I shall check them in and pop them on the site as soon as possible. 

    In other news, it was a Feminist Icon article that I'd written for you that didn't save, so I'll get another one added soon. I do like to write about them occasionally, and I find it very interesting myself to do the research. 

    Finally, to let you know what I am up to behind the scenes, besides the usual day-to-day activities, I am currently working on my stock software to make sure it is accurate. I've been using it since November 2019, and I've realised that due to the very complicated setup I have (mainly due to products being added on to other products), the stock numbers I have are not accurate.  This of course affects my accounting side of things, but also affects you, as I can't be sure what the stock levels are.  I've uncovered some bigger issues hidden underneath that too, which means it's time to delve deeper into it.  I can't delay any longer and must figure them out and address them, to make sure it is all working well.  It's a huge job! I like a challenge and a puzzle, but some of this has me stumped. Where can an entire box of fashion tape vanish to? Answers on a postcard please! :) 

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  8. Little Changes - Posting Days and Machine Cog Oiling!

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    Happy sunny June day! 

    It still amazes me that anyone reads this little blog, but I know that new and "old" customers alike do, so here is a little update for you, fresh from my head!

    As many of you know, I run the store on my own, with help for the packing side of things from my lovely Mum.

    My daily tasks do vary, but generally I spend the morning doing urgent emails, then packaging up and dispatching orders, and dealing with urgent stock tasks. I then get to go back to emails later in the afternoon on a Monday, mid/late morning on other days.  The emails I receive and like to send are detailed, so these usually take me a few hours.  

    The rest of the day is then left for other tasks, and it is keeping struggle with.  My to-do list/wish list grows and never shrinks! When you run a little shop, there is so much that goes on behind the scenes. 

    These really vary and are tasks such as:

    • Accounting
    • Tax
    • VAT
    • Stock Planning
    • Stock designing
    • Stock manufacture and shipping
    • Postage tasks
    • Social Media
    • Website and other stores updating
    • Product pages updating
    • Photography
    • Dealing with things going wrong (yes PC, I am talking to you),
    • etc etc.
    • Ordering supplies such as packaging

    These are just broad categories, but there are often many of each task needing doing at one time. 

    On the one hand I know my customer facing tasks are the most important, but it is also true that doing these other longer tasks do help you and are super important. 

    As an example, the new breast form graphics that I am currently designing. It's taken me quite a while to learn the software, but I am at last getting there.  It's just taking a lot longer than I thought and they are not even finished yet. I get sad that it means I am not replying to emails straight away when doing tasks like that, but the key point I just realised is:

    these tasks help you, my customers.

    They may not all be quite as direct with helping you, but they all do. Keeping the tax man happy keeps my shop open and able to help you, ordering good value postage supplies means I can send your items well protected and keep my prices down, keeping the website updated with stocks makes sure you can buy what you'd like to buy etc.

    It's this I need to remind myself

    So how to find more time?!

    With all this in mind I've decided to have a day every few weeks where I don't dispatch/post out products to you.  By doing this is won't take me the full double time the next day, but it will give me a valuable few hours where I can work on some of the other tasks.

    I will pop a note in the store to give plenty of notice, so you know to get your orders in if urgent. 

    Hopefully this will mean I am able to improve my customer experience, as well as oiling the cogs better behind the scenes :) 

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  9. Updated Breast Enhancer Style 12 Video

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    I've made a new video to show you the new size :)

  10. New Amazon Store

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    To follow on from my last two posts, I have received my pen tablet! It is amazing but has a little fault with an accessory, so I'm getting it replaced. I think it is going to take me a little while to get used to it, but I hope to be able to bring you much better product sketches in the future.

    In the meantime, I have been working on a new Amazon store to give a much better customer experience there.  I can be honest here as it is my little blog, that I do have mixed feelings about being a seller on Amazon. They do have their benefits for some of my customers, as their logistics services are second-to-none with the Prime delivery options.  From a customer comprehension point of view though, they are trickier, as I am very limited to what information I can give to the customer. They don't give me many characters or images to explain the product, so with a product like mine, that can make it very tricky. 

    I am hoping that my new store will help with that. As I am now a registered brand on Amazon, I am able to custom build a store, and within that I can custom make pages of information which will really help.  I hope!

    Amazon Store Progress

    It's a slow process, but I am pleased about how it is getting on and hope it will be up and running soon. 

    If you are ever in doubt if I would prefer for you to buy here on my Amazon store, the answer is absolutely here! The Amazon fees are the biggest I face, and it certainly does make it difficult for us little businesses to be on there, but as many customers head straight to Amazon it's essential for me to be there and I am very grateful for the number of people who find me through my Amazon presence. On my website however, I am able to offer options for packaging such as boxes and organza bags, add-ons such as adhesive tapes, videos and guides to help you, and you can email me whenever you like.  I love serving you here, as it's our own little space to connect and interact.

    I better get back to doing this store for now though :)

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